Lesson 06: Principles
Do successful projects have certain things in commons?
Based on AXELOS PRINCE2® material. Reproduced under licence from AXELOS. All rights reserved.
Note: PRINCE2 2017 edition is now called PRINCE2 6th edition.
- 00:06 – The PRINCE2 Principles
- 00:09 – First, what are principles?
- 00:11 – Well, principles are a guide for good practice
- 00:14 – And from a PRINCE2 point of view, principles are a guide for good project management practice for all those involved in a project
- 00:23 – And there are 7 of these good principles that are practices that should be included in all PRINCE2 projects
- 00:30 – We will start with the first one, Continued Business Justification
- 00:35 – A PRINCE2 project should have continued business justification
- 00:39 – Therefore each project should have a clear Business Case, so a clear business reason for existence
- 00:47 – PRINCE2 requires that for all projects, there is a justifiable reason for starting the project
- 00:54 – And this justification is recorded and approved, or should be recorded and approved
- 00:59 – And the justification should remain valid and this is constantly checked throughout the life of the project
- 01:06 – So in which documents do we check the business justification?
- 01:10 – Well, this is the Business Case mainly
- 01:12 – So next I will look at the different points in the project where we can check
- 01:17 – First the project should check actually what business reasons are already included in the Project Mandate
- 01:24 – And the executive then can use these business reasons when creating the outline Business Case
- 01:31 – The second check is at the end of the starting of a project process using the outline Business Case document
- 01:37 – So the outline Business Case document is part of the Project Brief
- 01:41 – And this is the first light version of the Business Case
- 01:45 – The third check is at the end of the Initiation Stage, again using the Business Case document
- 01:51 – So the Business Case now includes a more realistic estimate of the cost of the project than the outline Business Case
- 01:59 – And that’s because we have the information from the Project Plan
- 02:03 – And from then on, the Business Case can be checked at the end of each stage
- 02:10 – And the last check, of course, will be at the end of the project
- 02:15 – Each time the Project Board checks the business justification at the end of a stage, they can decide to shut down the project if it doesn’t make sense anymore
- 02:23 – Or to allow it to continue
- 02:26 – So that’s it for the principle Continued Business Justification
- 02:31 – Principle 2, Defined Roles and Responsibilities
- 02:36 – A PRINCE2 project should have defined and agreed roles or responsibilities
- 02:42 – Also, business user and supplier interest must be represented
- 02:47 – Otherwise this will lead to trouble
- 02:49 – People also need to know what they should be doing and what can be, and what they can expect from others
- 02:57 – And this will make life very easy for the Project Manager
- 03:02 – A PRINCE2 project has three primary stakeholders
- 03:06 – We have the business sponsor, user and suppliers
- 03:09 – So, the business sponsor, well, they make sure that the project delivers value for money
- 03:15 – Users? Well, they will use the products once created and receive the benefits
- 03:20 – And the suppliers? Well, they provide the resources and expertise to produce the products
- 03:26 – So, when do we think about roles and responsibilities?
- 03:30 – Well, we first define the project management team in the starting of a project process
- 03:36 – Remember, this is very, very high level
- 03:38 – So, we are just talking about the Project Board, Project Manager, Change Authority and Project Support
- 03:45 – However, they still must be made aware of their roles and responsibilities
- 03:51 – At the end of each stage as well, we can check that people are living up to their responsibilities
- 03:56 – And if not, the Project Manager should ask for this person to be replaced
- 04:02 – For example, let’s say one of the senior suppliers could be very busy working on other projects
- 04:07 – So it’s a good idea to replace them
- 04:10 – So this principle Defined Roles and Responsibilities helps to answer 3 questions
- 04:17 – One, what is expected of me?
- 04:20 – Two, what can I expect from others?
- 04:22 – And three, who makes what decisions?
- 04:28 – The third principle, Learn from Experience
- 04:31 – So this name is easy to understand
- 04:34 – Project teams should learn from experience
- 04:36 – So look for lessons, record these lessons, and then use these lessons during the life of the project
- 04:43 – Therefore they should take initiative to uncover previous lessons learned and benefit from these
- 04:51 – Projects in their nature are unique and there’s always something new which brings risk
- 04:55 – So why not learn from other projects and this will help to reduce project risk
- 05:01 – This also helps to avoid reinventing the wheel and avoid making the same mistakes
- 05:08 – So when do we gather lessons in a project?
- 05:10 – Well, in the starting of a project process, the Project Manager already encourages all stakeholders to come with lessons
- 05:18 – And they should also check Lessons Reports from similar previous projects
- 05:25 – And then in the IP stage, the project will use these gathered lessons and continue to gather new lessons for future stages
- 05:34 – And then in every Stage Boundary Process, the Project Manager will create the new stage plan using the lessons from previous stages
- 05:44 – And at the end of the project, the Lessons Report can be made available to other projects, or should be made available to other projects
- 05:52 – A good point to note here is that sharing and using lessons is a sign of mature project management in a project
- 06:02 – PRINCE2 actually states that it’s the responsibility of all stakeholders to seek lessons rather than waiting for someone else to provide them
- 06:12 – Principle number 4, Manage by Stages
- 06:16 – A PRINCE2 project is planned, monitored, and controlled on a stage-by-stage basis
- 06:22 – And PRINCE2 breaks down projects into chunks
- 06:25 – And we call these Management Stages as each management stage is separated by a Project Board decision or a management decision
- 06:36 – The Project Manager runs a project one stage at a time for the Project Board
- 06:41 – And the advantages of working in stages are
- 06:45 – One, it allows the project to be divided up into a number of management chunks
- 06:49 – So then we will have let’s say a high-level Project Plan for the whole project and a very detailed Stage Plan for each stage
- 06:57 – And two, future stages can learn from previous stages
- 07:02 – So, for example, if one supplier is 20% late in one stage and 15% in another, then we can take this into account when planning the future stages
- 07:14 – There are a minimum of two management stages in a project
- 07:18 – The Initiation Stage and one Delivery Stage
- 07:22 – Then the Closing a Project process will be the last part of the second stage in a two-stage project
- 07:30 – So that’s it for Manage by Stages
- 07:33 – Principle number 5, Manage by Exception
- 07:37 – First some background here as this will help to explain it
- 07:41 – A Project Manager runs a project on behalf of the Project Board
- 07:45 – And the Project Board don’t want to be disrupted every 5 minutes with every small issue that will happen
- 07:51 – For example, if product X is going to cost point or one-tenth of 1% extra,
- 07:58 – So, how to avoid the Project Manager running to the Project Board every 5 minutes?
- 08:05 – Well, the answer is the Project Board can set tolerances to give the Project Manager a bit more flexibility
- 08:12 – For example, they can give a tolerance of 20% for time or cost
- 08:18 – So if there is an issue that delays this stage by 5%, then the Project Manager can deal with this without having to run to the Project Board screaming for help
- 08:29 – Tolerances can be set time, cost, quality, scope, benefits and risks; so, the six project variables
- 08:36 – And the most common of these are time, cost and quality
- 08:39 – Now, time and cost are easy to understand, but I will explain a few more
- 08:44 – The scope? Well, the scope must be well defined and care must be taken by the Project Manager to avoid scope creep
- 08:52 – Which is to allow new low-value requirements to be added during the project or to creep into the project
- 09:01 – Quality? Quality is checking that products are passing the quality tests and meeting the quality requirements as defined
- 09:10 – The other two tolerances are risks and benefits, but I will explain benefits a bit more
- 09:15 – Benefits is checking the future value of the project
- 09:19 – And if the project is still worth doing from an investment point of view
- 09:24 – If during the project, the stage tolerances exceed the agreed amounts, then the Project Manager will escalate this to the Project Board
- 09:35 – So Manage by Exception is used by each level in the project organization to manage the level below
- 09:41 – And the layer below then should only notify the management layer above if there is a big issue which goes out of tolerance
- 09:51 – So, who sets the tolerances?
- 09:54 – Well, the CPC set the project tolerances
- 09:58 – The Project Board sets the stage tolerances
- 10:01 – And the Project Manager sets the work package tolerances
- 10:05 – So to summarize, Manage by Exception provides the above management layer with a system to manage and control the lower management layer without being bothered by every small issue
- 10:19 – Principle number 6, Focus on Products
- 10:22 – A PRINCE2 project is very focused on the definition and delivery of products
- 10:27 – So the focus is on clearly defining the requirements for each product
- 10:33 – So what happens when a product is not properly defined?
- 10:36 – Well then, everybody will have a different idea, so everybody will have different expectations
- 10:42 – And this will cause unnecessary meetings, development delays, and delivery of a product that will not be used or perhaps will not be used
- 10:51 – So, where do we define products and write these product descriptions?
- 10:56 – Well, the first thing we do from a product point of view is to create the project product description in the SU process
- 11:03 – And this is normally a one to two-page document
- 11:06 – So it describes the main output of the project, so that all project stakeholders then have the same expectations at the start of the project
- 11:14 – Which is a good start
- 11:17 – Then, the majority of product descriptions can be defined in the Initiation Stage
- 11:22 – But we also create an update of the descriptions in each Stage Boundary Process as well, or they can be done there
- 11:31 – PRINCE2 also states that we should start writing product descriptions as soon as possible
- 11:36 – So all project stakeholders have a clear idea on what to expect
- 11:42 – Some advantages of focusing on products are it helps to reduce scope creep
- 11:48 – And this also reduces the risk of user dissatisfaction as users know what they’re going to get
- 11:57 – The seventh principle is Tailor to Suit the Project
- 12:01 – And the purpose of tailoring is to ensure that the PRINCE2 method is appropriate for the project and supports the project
- 12:09 – And also to lower bureaucracy, in other words, to limit the number of management documents and administration around the project
- 12:18 – PRINCE2 can be used on all types of projects
- 12:21 – I’d say from a one-day project to a 900-day project
- 12:25 – And even a one-day project can use all the PRINCE2 principles
- 12:29 – As far as documentation is concerned, there’s a good rule
- 12:33 – And the rule is just do the minimum amount of documentation to control the project and no more
- 12:41 – Here is a simple sample project that you can find on the internet
- 12:45 – It’s a good example of a very light tailored PRINCE2 project based on Trello
- 12:50 – So just search on Google for PRINCE2 and then U2 Driving School Project
- 12:56 – I have given some good examples here of many of the PRINCE2 products in this tailored example
- 13:05 – So tailoring is not part of the PRINCE2 syllabus
- 13:09 – So that’s all you really need to know about this topic
- 13:13 – So that’s an overview of the PRINCE2 Principles
- 13:17 – And remember that these are good management practices or good project management practices that should be included in all PRINCE2 projects
PRINCE2® processes help you realize the principles, and we’re going to talk about them in detail in the upcoming lessons. We’ve already had a quick review of the processes; can you name the 7 processes and explain what they do?
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